Niantic Buys Evertoon To Integrate Social Media To 'Pokemon GO'
"Pokemon GO" developer Niantic has announced that they have acquired the team from the social media startup Evertoon to help it build out its mobile products. The details of the deal have not been disclosed but it appears that the developer was more interested in acquiring the team behind the startup rather than the startup's IP (intellectual property).
Evertoon's app, which was launched last year, was designed to help users make short, personalized films which can then be shared out to social networks like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. The app allowed users to upload a photo to use on top of a predesigned avatar that could then be programmed to do certain things by typing emoji commands.
For example, typing a "thumbs up" emoji will cause the user's avatar perform that action while typing a "fist" emoji would cause the avatar to throw a punch. Users can also upload their own personal background and even lend their voice to their avatars.
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According to the company's announcement, Evertoon has been live for 18 months before Niantic decided to acquire it. During that time, people have been using it in creative ways such as making animated fan fiction, celebrity satire, and music videos. The team behind the startup says that the development taught them a lot about building a community and social experiences.
Niantic's interest in the firm, however, is less about the toon-making aspect of their app but rather the engineering capabilities of the team. Their understanding of social systems was also a factor in their decision to bring the team under their wing.
"Niniane (the founder of Evertoon) and her team have been exploring innovative ways to add social mechanics to digital products," Niantic CEO John Hanke in a recent blog post. "As our products and platform evolve, they will help build social systems that will benefit our entire community."
The team will be tasked with integrating a social platform to Niantic's games, including "Pokémon Go," its predecessor "Ingress," and its future titles. It is currently unknown whether the developer will also make use of Evertoon's animated short social networks on its IPs.
As a result of the acquisition, however, Evertoon will also down its iOS application which will go offline on Nov. 30, 2017, although users will still be able to make animated movies using the version 3.0 of the app installed on their phones.
